Unrealized Potential
by Hakkari
Summary: With Chell working for Aperture instead of against it, GLaDOS finds that things are about to get worse before they can get better. Sequel to Mixed Emotions, but can stand on its own. ChellDOS friendship/family, ATLASxP-Body. R&R.


"How in the world did you manage to break _that_?" Chell jumped, dropping the papers that she had been sorting. It had been an unusually quiet morning, and the human had slipped from her usual quarters to underneath GLaDOS's hulking form, sorting out all sorts of old, irrelevant forms. The massive AI didn't seem to mind, glancing at her newest employee once before snorting and returning her attention to the screen that was monitoring the cooperative bots.

GLaDOS swiveled as the papers hit the floor, rearing herself up and looking at Chell expectantly. "I give you the simplest task Aperture Science could find, and you manage to mess it up. Great work, _REDACTED_. That was sarcasm, by the way." The woman sighed, bending over to pick up the dropped forms. "And I'm adding 'incompetent' to your file. Right next to 'lunatic'."

"Well, you shouldn't just... _shout_ like that. Really, I was doing just fine before you did that. See? I'm over halfway done and you haven't said a thing until now!"

"Because dropping important papers on the floor is the right way to do things," GLaDOS pointed out drily, casting her optic over the mess that she had created. Another bang through the intercom caused her attention to shift rapidly back to the screen, where she let out an annoyed hiss. Curious, Chell neatly dropped the papers into a stack before peering around the machine.

"Orange and Blue-"

"ATLAS and P-Body. They have names, you-"

"_Orange and Blue_," GLaDOS emphasized, shooting a glare at the former test subject, "have managed to dent a propulsion gel pipe. I don't know how they manage it, honestly. Oh. Orange seems to have completely broken it. _Good_. Like I don't have _enough_ to do already."

The bot had gotten her hand stuck in the pipe, and as she pried it out a burst of orange gel coated her, causing her to squeal in fear. ATLAS chuckled, though that was over quicker than it had begun as they burst into flames on the screen. Turning back to Chell, GLaDOS dragged a portal gun out of storage, dropping it in front of the woman.

"You. Go fix it. _Now_." Sighing, she retied her hair, grabbed the gun, and marched reluctantly over to the elevator. She could see ATLAS and P-Body shivering nearby, fear obvious in their movements. Chell felt a stab of pity before remembering that they could just be reconstructed. With a shrug, she stepped into the lift.

As it started moving, she saw flames burst out of the Disassembly Chamber.

**A P E R T U R E S C I E N C E**

Chell wasn't sure why GLaDOS had sent her down to make repairs. The human knew nothing about plumping or pipe repair. When the water pipe in her quarters had burst, she had just duct taped it and prayed for the best. The propulsion gel tube would require a _lot_ of tape.

She observed from a distance, not wanting to get the suspicious orange gel on her person. While GLaDOS claimed it was harmless, she could only remember Cave Johnson's voice, saying the substance didn't like the human skeleton. Chell shivered, the looked at the leak-slash-dent again. Even if she had been a plumber, she doubted that the pipe could be fixed at all. It would probably have to be taken out and replaced.

It appeared the GLaDOS had realized the same thing, as Chell could just barely make out the sounds of two explosions over the intercom. "You _morons_." The feed cut out after that, and Chell bit back a giggle.

When GLaDOS returned, she seemed much calmer, back to her old self. "Well, employee, I suppose that we've had a small _setback_. Don't worry, the troublemakers have been _taken care of._" This made Chell frown.

"What did you do to them? GLaDOS..."

"As you are now apparently hearing-impaired, they have been _taken care of_. Return to the main chamber now." That didn't comfort Chell in the slightest. Still, she obeyed the AI, climbing into the lift. She shivered at the thought of the two bots, probably huddled away in a corner to try and avoid their mother's wrath. Not that the AI would kill them off permanently. Despite all of her insults, she cared about them enough to keep them going.

Just like she mysteriously cared about those three crow hatchlings that ATLAS and P-Body had returned to her. It was all rather odd, considering her former phobia of birds.

Three more explosions rocked the lift as it slowly chugged upward, but as she arrived at the AI chamber it stilled. The two bots were sitting in their chamber looking rather bewildered and confused. GLaDOS had calmed down, though she still seemed bitter towards the two. Chell glanced at the AI, who was currently in the process of turning off the gel and removing the broken tube. "It'll be alright, she'll cool down. Besides, she insults you all the time anyway, right? Trust me, you learn to ignore it after a while." P-Body seemed to calm down, straightening her body from the huddle that she had been awkwardly gathered in.

"Now _what_ are you teaching my testing bots, _REDACTED_? They don't need to be influenced by your fat, adopted mind. Not that you have anything interesting to say. I could see you staring at my potato and thinking about the best way to fry me up." Chell winked at the two, mouthed a quick _I told you so_, and headed back towards her employer. She didn't look pleased.

"This sets me back, you know. Not that you care. We were making _excellent _progress with the propulsion gel, almost ready to release it into the public- _Don't roll your eyes_." Chell only snorted at the AI's offended tone.

"GLaDOS, I grew up here. Aperture's never released _anything_ to the public."

"Well, it certainly doesn't mean we can't change that now, does it?" Chell rubbed her temple, remembering having this exact same conversation not two days ago.

"GLaDOS, people are just moving back to America from after the Combine invasion. I doubt that they'll be interested in something as useless as propulsion gel."

"...Go back to filing the paperwork."

**A/N: This is a followup to Mixed Emotions, though you don't really have to read it to understand this one. Anyway, it's going to be multichapter. It's ChellDOS family style, so it's not too terribly romantic, if it is at all. The most 'romantic' thing I have planned is them basically being two mothers towards the testing bots. So yeah.**

**Anyway, leave a review, a cookie, whatever. I appreciate feedback :3**


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